The Hindu : National : NDA requests President to visit Nandigram

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Friday, Mar 23, 2007
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National

National

NDA requests President to visit Nandigram

Special Correspondent

PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

MAKING CHARGES: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani, BJP president Rajnath Singh, NDA convener George Fernandes and others coming out of Rashtrapati Bhavan after presenting a memorandum to President Abdul Kalam, in New Delhi on Thursday.

NEW DELHI: A delegation of the National Democratic Alliance led by Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani here on Thursday submitted a memorandum to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam requesting him to visit Nandigram in West Bengal "to comfort" the people "terrorised" after the March 14 incident when over a dozen were killed in police firing on unarmed villagers.

The NDA memorandum said that a delegation sent by it to Nandigram found that all those killed had received gunshot wounds "above the waist" establishing the police intent to kill. It said that the police and cadre of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had attacked the people gathered at prayer meetings organised by them for the safety of their lands.

The NDA alleged that villagers reported several cases of women being chased by uniformed policemen and raped. It requested that a police post be set up in Nandigram to help people file first information reports.

The NDA made the point that "current political realities have effectively curtailed the Government of India's willingness to step in and restore law and order in the State run by a major ally of the United Progressive Alliance." It complained that Parliament had been "prevented" from discussing the incident.

The NDA demanded that Article 355 of the Constitution be invoked by the Centre to direct the West Bengal Government "to stop the spiral of violence" and adequate compensation be paid to victims. Besides Mr. Advani, George Fernandes (Janata Dal-United), Dinesh Trivedi (Trinamool Congress) and BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh and S.S. Ahluwalia were part of the delegation.

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